It would make sense that the PT admission would be getting more competitive, as evidenced by the almost weekly posts here and on xoxo asking about the Georgetown PT "loophole" as a backdoor way into a decent school. Given that, I think admissions is also wise to the idea, and are still trying to admit "true" PT students with accomplishments and potential beyond their numbers while screening the applicants who are trying to use the "loophole".

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kterrious

Hey GF, Are you the same person from LSN, the Native American from Harvard with the 2.8 and the 164 who got into Geogretown PT? (it's a pretty distinct name you have, so I assume it's you). If so, what do you think set you apart from other candidates in conveying to the committee that you are a "true" PT student and not someone looking for a "loophole" since you seem to have been successful where others have failed even with an avg LSAT and a lower GPA than most. Thanks, KT

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kterrious

Hey GF, I have one more question for you. You seem to be scorning several of us on here b/c we were trying to use a "loophole" to get into GULC; i.e., when filling out our applications, we chcked the "part-time" box instead of "full-time" because we knew we wouldn't have a prayer otherwise. There is a good deal of truth to this. However, in filling out your application, under the optional ethnicity box, did you not check "Native American"? I presume you did this becasue you knew that you would not have a prayer at GULC otherwise. This is understandable, but nevertheless itt gave you an advantage. Do you honestly think that a Non-URM with a 2.81 from anywhere and a 161 on the LSAT(your score when GULC accepted you, though it has since increased by 3 pts) would have been accepted under any circumstances? Might it not be argued that Affirmative Action is a sort of "loophole" in itself? Please don't come on here and ridicule we poor Non-URM with our lower to middle 160s and our 3.5s, 3.6s, and 3.7s who are trying to find a way (maybe even a "loop hole") into GULC while you are getting the place of an applicant with better credentials under another "loop hole." Am I being rude? Maybe, but frankly I found your post extremely insulting and demeaning and I find it even more so considering the fact that I don't see you as being in a position to criticize those of us who are just trying to do the best we can with that which we are given, even if we were not lucky enough to come into this process with the advantage of URM status as you yourself were. Best Regards, KT

Allow me to respond to your first post's questions, then your second post.

Yes I have a 2.8. My higher LSAT was 168, and I think Georgetown takes the highest. If not, my average was 164. No I am not from Harvard. Close though, I graduated from MIT. I felt I was a "true" PT applicant because I am not straight out of undergrad and I have very unique work experience.

For your second post, I apologize if you thought I was in any way scorning you or anyone else. I was simply trying to hypothesize why PT is seeming to be more competitive this year.

You also asked if I checked "Native American" because I "knew that I would not have a prayer otherwise". To be honest, I checked "Native American" because I am, in fact, Native American. I grew up in Oklahoma. I'm a member of my tribe. I'm on the tribal rolls.

Of course it gave me an advantage. Did I ever dispute this? No. Obviously, the minority status helps candidates. According to LSAC, last year Georgetown had 1,993 law students. Four (4) of them were Native American. So yes, my minority appears to be underrepresented. Yes, it obviously helped me gain admission with my "inferior" numbers. No, I'm not ashamed of being Native American, nor am I ashamed if it played a role in my admission.

Most importantly, and I'm sorry I didn't make this clear in my original post, I see nothing wrong with anyone applying part-time to up their chances, just like there is nothing wrong with me simply stating who I am.

If the tables were turned, though, and applying PT and/or as a minorityhurt ones admissions chances, would you have still applied part-time? I would have still applied Native American, because that's what I am, not what I chose.

I'm not better than anyone here, I freely admit I got very lucky. I just wanted to share my opinion on the reasons of rising PT applications.

Macul--I do work full-time in DC, so that's why PT. If I could have done PT, I wouldn't have had to quit my job, plus some of my tuition would have been paid for Since I want to work in NYC when I'm done, now I have to factor the regional factor in to the school that I go to, so that's why I'm favoring Fordham.I was really shocked that I wasn't deferred at the very least from GULC...I took my LSAT 2 years ago and when I took it, that 164 was the median for some of the low-top 20!! What a difference 2 years makes!

the 2 year difference is no joke. A friend of mine (157/3.0) got into to both American and GMU full time 4 years ago. Now with my 164/3.2 I would feel lucky to get into american pt. I want to continue working full time (also would likely get some of it paid for). I don't think I am ready to start living off of loans after 5 years in the work force. I am assuming you got into fordham full time so congrats on the acceptance.

In the coming years, law schools will look to still more ways of either moving up in the rankings or preserving their high position in the pecking order. Gimmicks will be deployed.

One such ploy will likely be scrapping part-time programs. Georgetown Law, if it sees the need to resort to several methods of retaining an excellent position in the rankings, will take this course of action. Remember that none of the top 10 schools has part-time students.

How does eliminating the part-time program help GULC move up in the rankings? You do know that the PT numbers are not considered in the USNWR rankings, right? Not eht GPAs, LSAT scores, or the acceptance percentages. Only the full time program numbers are used in the ranking system. So the numbers aren't hurting GU at all. All that PT is giving them is another source of income.

Trust me, we are not the first group to have people realize that they can apply part-time and get into a better school.